CONGRATULATIONS ... IT'S A SERIES! (And Giveaways!)

No question about it—the birth of a baby is truly a reverent thing. Especially the first moment you hold that precious bundle in your arms, in total awe of just how beautiful he or she is. Cooing softly, you can’t help but tremble as you caress your baby’s face, heart bursting with pride. Gratitude swells as you whisper a prayer of thanks to God for this blessing unlike any other, and with a sting of tears in your eyes, you lean in and carefully plant a sweet, little kiss … right on the cover.

             WHOO-HOO, CONGRATULATIONS—IT'S A SERIES!

Yes, it’s exciting … but just like a baby doesn’t happen overnight, neither does a series, and trust me, gestation is a LOT longer than nine months! So with the April launch of my “Heart of San Francisco” series, book 1 Love at Any Cost, I thought it might be fun to track my “pregnancy” from when it was just a twinkle in my eye to that final torturous push in the delivery room. Or in short, from WOW to OW in the birth of a fun and quirky family called The McClares of Nob Hill. So here we go ...

THE FIRST KISS …
Ah, that first dangerous tingle from the touch of his lips, the caress of his hand, when your body gets excited and your mind says, “YES, YES, YES … I have an idea for a book!”

So with a delicious, little shiver, you flirt with ideas of what if …

… a Texas oil heiress, jilted by a fiancé after daddy’s oil wells run dry, hightails it to San Francisco to heal her heartbreak with wealthy cousins she loves? And what if one of those wealthy cousins is best friends with a handsome but incredibly poor fortune hunter desperate to afford a surgery for a crippled sister whose infirmity he blames on himself?

Uh-oh, pucker up, because I’m praying you’ll fall in love with “The Cousins McClare” just like I did!

PLAYING THE FIELD …
But … to make sure this was the series for me, I decided to “test the waters” by seeing if 1933 San Francisco appealed to my readers as much as it did to me. So I “courted” others’ opinions with a Facebook contest to determine which locale my readers preferred—San Francisco or Charleston. Obviously San Francisco won hands-down, which convinced me it was true love and not just infatuation.

GETTING “SERIES”OUS …
 Mmmm … suddenly I know this is it—a love affair with San Francisco, and I want this baby bad! So next I get “serious” with a 1-line premise, a moral premise and Scripture base for all three books just to get the hormones revved for a full-blown proposal. Mind you, I didn’t have to do a proposal for my publisher, but I’ve found doing so helps solidify and embed the stories in my brain, giving me a great kick-off point to begin writing the series, so here’s what I came up with:

Book 1: WORKING TITLE, DARE TO DREAM.  FINAL TITLE, LOVE AT ANY COST.
1-line premise:
A spunky heiress without a fortune falls in love with a handsome pauper looking to marry well.

Moral Premise:
Pursuit of material things, pleasure or escape will lead to discontentment and emptiness, but pursuit of God will lead to fullness of joy and fulfillment.

Scripture Theme:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. —Matthew 6:21


Book 2: WORKING TITLE, DARE TO LOVE. FINAL TITLE, DARE TO LOVE AGAIN.
1-Line Premise:
A sassy socialite burned by love twice butts heads and hearts with a jaded cop burned by the upper class.

Moral Premise:
Avoiding relationship because of past hurt leads to bitterness and loneliness, but investing in relationship in light of past hurts and God’s help leads to communication and love.

Scripture Theme:
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. —Psalm 33:22


Book 3: WORKING TITLE, DARE TO HOPE. FINAL TITLE, TBA.
1-Line Premise:
An ugly duckling who becomes a swan plots romantic vindication on the man who spurned her with the help of the best friend who steals her heart.

Moral Premise:

Rejection, insecurity and guilt can skew our choices, resulting in misery and lack of peace, but acceptance, confidence and faith in God can shape our choices, resulting in contentment and peace.

Scripture Theme:
The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. —Proverbs 18:4

NEXT: POPPING THE QUESTION …
Ah, the PROPOSAL … the moment you get down on bended knee and … PRAY your publisher will say “yes” to your new series idea. And believe me, I prayed plenty about my “Heart of San Francisco” series, putting together a 30-page proposal that included very detailed 5-7-page synopses for each book that actually read like a novels with snippets of dialogue. I also included a series overview and the first chapter of book 1, Dare to Dream, which is now Love at any Cost. Just for fun, here’s a peek at the overview:

                     “THE COUSINS MC CLARE” SERIES

From the glitter and glamour of San Francisco’s Nob Hill and Napa wine country, to the seedy dance halls and gambling dens of the Barbary Coast, The Cousins McClare is a study in contrasts between the haves and have-nots and barriers between rich and poor that only faith can transcend. The story of the McClares, a wealthy political family in 1933 San Francisco, will be told in three 350-400 page novels that not only highlight the struggles of faith and heart of three cousins, but of the matriarch of the family as well. A widow of strong faith and beauty, Caitlyn McClare butts heads and hearts with her handsome brother-in-law Logan McClare, the fiancé who betrayed her before she married his brother. In a breathtaking city where the Irish were predominant in the early 1900s and wielding power in both politics and wealth, “The Cousins McClare” is a glimpse into beauty and degradation, poverty and Prohibition during a riveting time that brought our country to its knees.

ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE!!!
Pop the champagne—the publisher said, “YES,” and now I have a ring on my finger! I was very excited to say “I do” to Revell for my third series and happily so. The only stipulation was Revell asked me to change the era from the early 1930s to early 1900 due to research indicating the 1920s and 30s were not as saleable eras as the late 1800s and early 1900s. So with a few tweaks and adjustments, The McClares went from 1933 to 1902 and I went to work ...

COUPLING:
Ohhhh my … now this is the moment I’ve been waiting for … the culmination of a marriage with the sheer pleasure of bringing a “couple” to life on the pages of my book by actually WRITING the novel!! Sigh … my favorite part of being an author!

PREGNANCY AND GESTATION:
From inked contracts to UPS dropping off a box of author copies, one experiences a lot of due dates and morning sickness over bloody edits, title changes, and cover angst, but OH the joy of that first sonogram—when you proof your own galleys and see the stirrings and movement of a novel taking shape! Some authors hate the galley editing and proofing phase, but not me—that’s my very favorite time, to be able to sit down and read my book like one of my readers would.

LABOR AND DELIVERY:
Whoo-whoo, hee-hee … whoo-whoo, hee-hee … For me, the worst part of having a “baby” were all those awful contractions (i.e. promotion = pain) right before (and after) the big push. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not partial to all that pacing and waiting to see just what kind of birth it’s going to be—are you going to have grunt and labor for hours and hours, or will this baby glide right out after a few tiny pushes, straight to the CBA bestseller list?

Personally, I don’t know a single Christian author who’s glided to the bestseller list with their first baby, nor many who have with the second and third. The norm for most authors is long labor (years of writing, revisions, edits, promotion), weight gain (in emotional baggage … will it sell, will it win?), hormonal ups and downs, and lots and lots of pain when somebody thinks your baby is ugly or not very bright (Ouch … those nasty 1-star reviews!!).

And yet, despite all the pain and angst encountered in giving birth to a novel, suddenly like a mother holding her babe after a 24-hour labor, an author forgets all about the pain when she holds that precious book in her arms for the very first time. It is truly an amazing moment in a writer’s life, an accomplishment like few others for those who love the written word. A moment to be savored and cherished truly … because I hate to tell you, but the true work and expense has only just begun … ;)

AFTERBIRTH …
And there you have the process, from pregnancy to promotion, and no, it’s no coincidence that I liken promotion to both contractions and afterbirth … two of the least pleasant things about having a baby! But OH, so necessary to the process. Now begins the blog tours and blog interview/giveaways, the contest entries and Facebook promotions, the book signings and contests to promote, promote, promote! Don’t get me wrong, there are things I LOVE about promotion—connecting with readers in a personal way, precious friendships made with bloggers, reviewers and reader friends—but the truth is, promotion is a time-eater, and to an author that is deadly.

TIME TO PASS OUT THE CIGARS …
So … to give you writers out there some takeaway from this trek through my pregnancy, I’m going to hand out some cigars and free advice, giving you the benefit of my limited experience with promotion in a very simple list of what worked for me and what didn’t. Some things have given me “smoking” success and others just stink up the room.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:

1.)    BOOK SIGNINGS: Absolutely NOT a cost- or time-effective way to promote a book unless you are Beverly Lewis, Karen Kingsbury, or Mary Connealy. My publisher tried to tell me this, but I SO love talking to people in person that I wouldn’t listen. I’ve had some really successful book signings, mind you, but the majority are not and quite frankly, the time and expense are not worth it. Nor is the humiliation when only three people show up, two of which are church librarians who take you to task for the passion in your books … true story! :\).

2.)    FACEBOOK DAILY-POST PROMOTIONS:  Because I e-published A Light in the Window on my own, I hired a publicist who suggested a themed month-long promotion on Facebook where they provided me with 30 days of short Christmas-related blurbs for daily posts in November. Well, being the anal CDQ that I am, OF COURSE I had to rewrite all the blurbs and then post them daily as well as respond to comments and run a contest along with it. Sigh … never again!! WAY too much time and effort for very little return on my investment.

3.)    BLOG INTERVIEW/GIVEAWAYS: This is kind of a catch-22 because although I strongly advocate doing lots of blog interview/giveaways in the beginning of your career, there comes a point when the time, effort, and expense expended far exceeds the benefit of acquiring new readers. My publisher tried to tell me this after my first series, but frankly, I enjoyed interacting with my readers through comments, so again I didn't listen (I'm a very stubborn girl). Not only that, but I actually LOVE to reward my die-hard readers with chances to win a free signed book. But … I am now limiting myself to no more than 10 interviews per release (down from 35) because frankly I need more time to write. :)

WHAT DOES WORK FOR ME:

1.)    BOOK TRAILERS: I’ll be honest, I have never been a really big fan of book trailers because I haven’t seen a whole lot of them that I really liked. BUT … I have noticed over the last year that many are far more professional now and actually do sell books, so when Revell asked me if I wanted a video, I said YES!

And HOLY COW, do I LOVE my new video for Love at Any Cost!! So much that I’m running a contest on my Journal Jots blog where viewing and “LIKING” my video automatically gives you two extra entries in today’s Seeker giveaway plus an entry in my Journal Jots blog contest for choice of my books and choice of a top CBA book from my library. So here’s the trailer, and if you watch it and “LIKE” it, then let me know in your comment today. Then if you want an automatic entry in my Journal Jot contest (top prize is a KINDLE, CHARACTER NAMED AFTER YOU IN MY BOOK, SIGNED BOOK and FIVE TOP CBA BOOKS), go to JULIE'S JOURNAL JOTS and click on the Rafflecopter tab in the box halfway down the page that says you watched/viewed the video.

Here’s the video link, so make sure it’s on “large screen” and crank that volume up!!   

VIDEO FOR "LOVE AT ANY COST”

2.)    FACEBOOK “PROMOTE” PROMOS AND ADS: WOW … I just got turned on to Facebook ads and promos by Tina Radcliffe, and I have to say buying an ad for $10.00/day to promote a contest or giveaway has been a very cool way to get the word out. And DOUBLE WOW—the “promote” tab beneath a post on Facebook? PURE GOLD … because you can double your post exposure for only $7.00!!

3.)    CONTESTS: I am not one to ask people to help me promote unless it’s a win-win for us both, so I like to offer an opportunity to win something in return. My newsletter contests where a reader friend can win having a character named after them in my next book simply by posting reviews has been HIGHLY successful and although Amazon’s review policy has gotten much stricter recently, I have noticed two big Christian publishers are now doing the SAME thing, so what does that tell you?

4.)    WEEKLY INSTEAD OF DAILY PERSONAL BLOG: I started out blogging on my Journal Jots blog five days a week, ducked down to three, and now I only blog every Friday, which allows me to keep in contact with my readers without draining me dry. I’d always heard you need to blog daily to be successful, but I disagree. My numbers are good on my Journal Jots blog and posting once a week is very manageable for me and gives my readers something new every week. Feel free to subscribe to my blog and get weekly e-mail reminders here: JULIE’S JOURNAL JOTS BLOG.

CHRISTENING PARTY …
OKAY, IT’S PARTY TIME!!! Help me celebrate the birth of my baby by leaving a comment to enter you in a giveaway of winner’s choice of any of my books!!

THEN … here’s a chance to win a KINDLE ($69 value), A CHARACTER NAMED AFTER YOU IN MY NEXT BOOK, A SIGNED COPY OF THAT BOOK, AND FIVE TOP CBA BOOKS FROM MY LIBRARY (all new) with an extra advantage for Seeker commenters!!  Head on over to my JULIE'S JOURNAL JOTS BLOG for all the details and because you are a Seekerville commenter, I am giving you TWO extra entries in that contest, so just click on the “Seeker Commenter” box and GOOD LUCK!!

Hugs,
Julie

I’m ready for my chance

A brief story about myself (what could be more fascinating, huh?) and the kind of flexibility that would make a circus contortionist green with envy. 

I say often here that I wrote for ten years before I got my first book published and when that fateful day came that I received a contract, I had twenty finished books on my computer.

I think of this now as….NOT a decades-long slog spent in mole-like anonymity. (well, I think of it as that some!)

But mostly I think of it as the time I spent getting ready for my chance. 

I want to talk today about whether an unpublished author should write a series. This can be tricky because so many acquiring editors aren’t going to buy three books (or however long your series is) from a first time author. No, they want ONE book and if your book is tied up in a series, then does that ONE book stand alone well enough that they’ll go for the one and keep you in mind for the next two if the one sells well.

My first long book Petticoat Ranch ended up being a series. 

But Barbour Publishing just bought the one. When they offered me that contract I honestly didn’t pout and say, “HEY I’ve got two more books here, and now they are ORPHANS.

Nope, I was too thrilled to sell the one book, for the other two, all I had was hope.

So here’s the thing with series, especially when you’re unpublished. Those books need to stand alone but they need to have the potential for a series. The books I do now are often laid out in an obvious ‘series’ style. Three brothers. Three sisters. Three Army buddies. It’s pretty obvious who’s going to be the leading man in each of the three books. 

But if you’ve read Petticoat Ranch and can remember, that book wasn’t like that

. 

Petticoat Ranch had the heroine in it who ended up starring in Calico Canyon, but Grace was the school marm. 

Not particularly important, though she had some troubles. Mostly, Grace was just a secondary character who appeared in a couple of scenes.

So I wrote those books, very deliberately, to sell alone or together. But there’s more to it than that.

Also, in the original form, both Montana Rose and The Husband Tree were completed books that had nothing to do with each other. They were in different states. Belle Tanner was certainly not a character in Montana Rose. For that matter, Tom Linscott, who ended up appearing in six books, started out as a 'cranky area rancher who didn't mind bidding against Mort Sawyer for Cassie Dawson's ranch.' That was it. He had no part. All of these characters emerged as I put series options together.

When I sold, I was pitching a lot of different books. I took four one sheets to ACFW that year. Historical romance. Love Inspired Length. Heartsong Presents Length. Contemporary romance. One series I was pitching was a three book series with fraternity brothers, each with their own troubles after they got out in the world. At the time I called it From Here to Fraternity, which I still think is cute.

They were set in modern day Houston among the rich and powerful in the corporate world. Which ended up not being my thing, huh?

Two of those books have never sold, one sold as Clueless Cowboy in a different series. I have a really soft spot in my heart for Clueless Cowboy because it is the second or third book I wrote. (whether it was second or third has been lost in the mists of time-or more accurately, lost in the air pockets in my brain!) 

That book has for a hero, a burned out rich guy living in a derelict house far from  the nearest town, trying to ‘get back to nature’. You can maybe see how he used to fit with those powerful corporate types, though so much of his backstory got cut and changed I doubt anyone would ever think of it.

Well, when I had that three book series finished, I didn’t just set it aside. By this time I was learning enough about the market that I knew these books would be a fit for Heartsong Presents, Love Inspired or they could stand alone. 

The trouble with that is those lines are all different lengths.

So, I rewrote them, each three times. I wrote full length novels, around 90,000 words. Rewrote them again to Love Inspired length at about 55,000 words, then cut them each again to 45,000-50,000 words for Heartsong Presents. And as I rewrote them I kept in mind that they needed to stand alone or work as a series. And btw, when I say I had 20 finished books, I am NOT counting these as nine of them.

This way when I talked with editors at the ACFW Conference and pitched my book I could honestly say, “Yes, this is book is finished and it's the right length for an HP. It can stand alone but I've got an idea for a series....”

So I didn’t just write three books, I turned those three books into NINE books. And this is what I think of when I say, “You need to be ready when your chance comes.”

When finally Heartsong Presents wanted a book from me, it was clear by then that they were more interested in small towns and/or rural settings. 

So I tossed out the two books of the three set so firmly in Houston’s corporate world and dragged out another short book, Buffalo Gal, I’d written set around a Buffalo Ranch in Nebraska and pitched those when HP was doing their STATES books. 

I didn’t just promise to move Clueless Cowboy from a small town near Houston (thinking I could do it later if they bought it). NO! I did it. I rewrote it and set it in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

 And then pitched a third book that I had in mind for a secondary character from Buffalo Gal as the third book, this one still unwritten.

Heartsong Presents was interested but they’d already sold “Nebraska.” Could I possibly move my book to South Dakota?

You all know the answer to that, right? It is: “ABSOLUTELY I COULD! IT WOULD FIT PERFECTLY IN SOUTH DAKOTA!!!”

So I’d already rewritten The Clueless Cowboy to divest him of the connections to that original three books series AND moved him from Texas to Nebraska, now I uprooted him again and moved him to South Dakota, and I uprooted Buffalo Gal right along with Clueless Cowboy and then, finally, when that was all in order, I could write book three, The Bossy Bridegroom, set in the place it was always meant to be, a small town in South Dakota’s Black Hills, near a buffalo ranch and a strange hermit who’d turned into a heroic…if clueless…cowboy.

These three sweet contemporary romances are all available as ebooks these days if you'd like to read them.

This is what I mean when I say “Be ready for your chance.”

The answer to editors is always, “Yes, I can jump, and how high would you like me?”

You need to be able to say, “My books is done, I can have it to you today.”

You need to say, “I’m ready for my chance.”

Today I'm again urging you to GET YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER. We are gearing up for SPEEDBO. (James Earl Jones)

We are all trying to get ready for our chance.

So tell me what you can do to a book you currently have finished but that isn't selling? Can you move it? Can you connect it to a series? Can you rip it out of a series? I'm not saying you have to, or even should, but you need to open your mind to the possibilities. Don't limit yourself due to a lack of imagination--because if there is one thing a writer has it's a good imagination!!!

Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for

THE FIRST EVER IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE GIVEAWAY OF SWEPT AWAY!!!!!!! 
I DON'T HAVE MY COPIES YET BUT TODAY WE'LL PICK A WINNER AND I'LL GET IT TO YOU AS SOON AS I CAN.

SWEPT AWAY 
coming in March from Bethany House Publishing

Swept away when her wagon train attempts a difficult river crossing, Ruthy MacNeil isn't all that upset at being separated from the family who raised her. All they've ever done is work her to the bone. She prayed for a chance to get away, and then came the raging flood. Alive but disoriented, she's rescued by Luke Stone...so unfortunately, there are more chances to die in her immediate future.

Luke is heading home to reclaim the ranch stolen from his family. But the men who killed his father are working hard to ensure Luke doesn't make it alive. He has no choice but to keep moving. Still, he can't just abandon Ruthy, so she'll have to come along.

Available for Pre-order on CBD.com

His friends--a ragtag group of former Civil War soldiers--take a fast interest in the pretty gal. Luke thinks that's rather rude--he's the one who found her. And the more time he spends around the hard-working young woman who is a mighty good cook, the more he finds himself thinking beyond revenge and toward a different future. For the first time in a long time, Luke is tempted to turn from his destructive path and be swept away by love.

~~~

FIRED UP
In the wild west being a pretty woman has it's advantages. Like if a lady can't cook, the men come to the diner anyway and are honored to accept her  burnt offerings. Glynna Greer, a woman with a powerful fear of rawness is on her way to being the richest woman person in town.
Jesus sent the disciples out to practice medicine without a license so Dare Riker figures he can, too.
The only thing stopping them from firing up a romance is: 
1) Her hostile son who probably isn't trying to kill Dare 
2) The fact that Dare killed her brutish first husband--which isn't that big a deterrent, still it's kinda awkward
3) The repeated attempts on Dare's life. 

Sort all that out and these two could be happily married and also make a fortune. Glynna feeding the local men, Dare treating stomach ailments. 

Newly available on Christianbook.com FIRED UP, book two in The Trouble in Texas series, in bookstores in August 2013

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